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this program is about unsolved mysteries
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whenever possible the actual family
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members and police officials have
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participated in recreating the events
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what you are about to see is not a news
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broadcast
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in 1970 clarence roberts has found dead
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in a fire or was 10 years later another
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fire killed his wife in the rubble
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Clarence Roberts was found for the
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second time how could a man diet twice
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pretty 16 year old Jenny Pratt hope to
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become a model
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until tragically she and her boyfriend
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were viciously attacked on a deserted
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Road she was in a coma for three months
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and still has no memory of the attack or
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her attacker in Central Florida a clumsy
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robber has successfully held up 30 banks
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the police call him fumbles he is still
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alive on a quiet Saturday morning Jack
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Quinn but to work and calmly walked off
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a 1.3 million dollars he seems to have
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committed the perfect crime
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perhaps tonight you come help catching
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[Music]
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reverie mystery there is someone
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somewhere who knows the truth tonight
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will tell you how our viewers help
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capture a Tennessee man accused of
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murdering two teenaged girls ten years
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ago he fled to Canada after our
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broadcast he is now in custody join me
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you may be able to help solve a mystery
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[Music]
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during the spring of 1987
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Jenny Pratt had hopes of becoming a
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model she was pretty popular and in her
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sophomore year at a Carlsbad California
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High School but what mattered most to
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Jenny was her boyfriend Curtis Croft
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Jenny was only 16 and she was deeply in
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love with Curtis he drove a Porsche had
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plenty of money and was a good-looking
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California surfer but Curtis is
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glamorous facade had a darker side I
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didn't really really know what was going
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on so I'd say almost six months into the
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relationship when she's mom I have a
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boyfriend he's 17 years old and I said
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okay and he really seemed like a pretty
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nice boy in fact he really did a good
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job snowing me he looked 17 and further
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on down the road I found out you know he
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had been in jail for drugs and he was 24
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years old and just bad news for a 16
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year old kid
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against her parents wishes Jenny went
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out with Curtis on the night of April
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the 25th 1918 he borrowed a friend's
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motorcycle and promised Jenny he would
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get her home before her midnight curfew
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Jenny Pratt would never arrive home that
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night
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Jennifer Pratt was brutally attacked on
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April night with an unusual weapon heavy
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board six-and-a-half feet long the
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police believed that her assailants may
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be local teenagers so far no one in the
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community will speak out to identify
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them we all not know who attacked Jenny
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until someone as the Quraish has stepped
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forward with the truth at 1:00 a.m. on
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the night of the incident Jenny's
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parents received the telephone call
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their daughter had been airlifted to a
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nearby hospital they said your
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daughter's been in an accident
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I said is she okay they wouldn't tell me
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anything and they said you know you'll
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have to come down she's in Scripps in La
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Jolla I didn't even know where it was
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neither one of us realized why she would
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be going to Scripps hospital there's a
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hospital five minutes away Scripps
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Medical Center in La Jolla California is
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a renowned trauma center which takes
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only the most severe cases can we see
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her no you can't see I was asking you
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know million questions but I wasn't
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getting any answers
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finally the nurse said the doctor would
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like to talk to us and he took us off
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into kind of a waiting room the doctor
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told Jenny's parents the worst possible
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news
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your daughter's bring their and we don't
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expect her to live Jenny had received a
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very serious injury at the scene of the
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accident the blow from the board that
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structure was great enough to actually
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crush the skull and that caused mediate
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shutdown of her brain and then they said
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I could see her and what I saw was
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horrible
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her hair was red from all the blood she
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was bleeding out of a nose or ears
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amount that she had tubes all over her
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it was like her whole body was just
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distorted miraculously Jenny Pratt
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survived but she lapsed into a deep coma
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our first involvement in the case was to
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examine the evidence that was found at
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the crime scene which consisted of the
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2x4 that was used to hit Jenny and
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Curtis
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so we examine that for physical evidence
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and didn't find any fingerprints there
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were some bloodstains on it which were
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photographed and were determined to be
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Jenny's Curtis was interviewed that same
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day at the Carlsbad police station his
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account of what happened basically is
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that he was giving Jennifer a ride home
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they were driving down a Rancho Santa Fe
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Road getting to ready to make a left
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turn
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that's just like going just approaching
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the intersection going real pretty slow
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I was sending something struck me and I
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Scott was that like he's kind of hurt
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really bad and then the car the car was
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doing by and I went bad sure around tell
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Jenny goes someone threw something at me
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or something you know I don't know what
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happens I mean I'm you know I couldn't
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believe it I hurt and she was out of it
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and so I just go oh my god what's
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happening we believed it was a case
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where carload or a truckload of
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juveniles had committed this crime
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Curtis was giving Jennifer a ride home
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it almost come to a complete stop when
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you realize to give them instruction I
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have bored and realized that any action
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stuck by a board and had slumped against
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him at the same time the white pickup
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truck went by them at a high rate of
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speed
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he had the impression that there was a
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large group of juveniles in the back of
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the pickup truck that they were laughing
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as they went by and his impression was
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that the board came flying from the
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pickup truck quite frankly we expected
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it to be a crime that would have been
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solved just by the nature of juveniles
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have a tendency to tie we felt it was
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very possible that in a short period of
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time we would have identified who the
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suspects were but this date we have yet
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to have anybody come up and supply us
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with any direct knowledge of what
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happened that night
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and if senior Jenny's parents hired
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private investigator Louis Christophe II
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he interviewed students at Jenny's high
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school basically all I can tell you is
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at that night that happened it was not
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aimed for Jenny it was aimed for Curtiss
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in' nobody note really knows who did it
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I have a feeling I know who did it but
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no one's really willing to say there's
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no doubt that there were people because
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of curtis's background and that didn't
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like him he was not a popular person in
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1985 Curtis Croft had been convicted for
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dealing cocaine after cooperating with
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police investigators he served less than
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half of his sentence he developed a
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reputation as a snitch when he got
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himself in trouble and young people
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particularly young people involved in
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drugs tend to look down on somebody who
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develops that reputation police
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investigated a number of people who
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might have wanted to hurt Curtis they
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learned that Curtis had confronted one
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of his enemies on the night before the
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assault Jenny's parents believed that
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the boy might have attacked Curtis and
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Jenny because of curtis's threats
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against him yeah you are
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the police investigation was stopped
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cold when Curtis claimed he could not
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identify the perpetrators on the night
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of the incident
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he said the white pickup truck was
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traveling at
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fifty-five miles per hour too fast for
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him to get a look at Jenny's assailants
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Louie Chris AVI did not believe Curtis
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he attempted to reconstruct the incident
00:09:38
at two different speeds and we use the
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identical pickups as far as the model
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year and the size and the same type of
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motorcycle and we use the same
00:09:47
conditions the first reconstruction was
00:09:50
done at 50 miles an hour that's the end
00:09:56
it seems almost certain that both Curtis
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and Jenny would have been killing
00:10:04
moreover in this reconstruction the
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board fell about 50 feet from the scene
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of the crime when in reality police had
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found it only a few feet from a spot
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where Jenny had been attacked the second
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reconstruction played out at only 10
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miles an hour
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inflicted injuries very similar to the
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ones Curtis and Jenny actually received
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and this time the board fell right next
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to the motors we had reason to believe
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that Curtis was not telling the whole
00:10:36
truth we went back to Curtis apartment
00:10:39
and visited with him rasathi felt that
00:10:42
Curtis had seen the people in the pickup
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truck and he confronted him were you in
00:10:47
a fight
00:10:48
finally Curtis did name names one of
00:10:51
them was the same boy he had fought with
00:10:53
on the night before the attack
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I like forced me to tell a it's like
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threatening someone you know and they
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like scared me into saying that and that
00:11:02
wasn't right writer on Curtis recanted
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telling police he had given them names
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because he felt pressured the truck was
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by really fast and the people try a sale
00:11:18
maybe saw someone but I really didn't
00:11:20
and we've done lying detector test I
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mean I've passed everything you know
00:11:24
I've told the truth I've always been
00:11:26
there to help I've never you know not
00:11:28
came around I've always came to
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everything he's wanted me to do
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cooperated with everything we do believe
00:11:33
that Curtis did in fact see those people
00:11:35
Curtis continuously told us that he has
00:11:37
been threatened that
00:11:40
has basically informed on people before
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and was very very frightened
00:11:46
that he would be killed and he was
00:11:48
already being threatened not to talk in
00:11:50
this case and we have reason to believe
00:11:53
that what he's saying to that effect is
00:11:55
true you know the real mystery is seems
00:11:58
like the second we find somebody that's
00:12:01
willing to come forward and say
00:12:02
something somebody gets to them and they
00:12:06
either disappear or they don't know
00:12:09
anything I honestly believe people have
00:12:12
been paid off
00:12:13
threatened and if anybody does try to
00:12:17
come forward the next day they don't
00:12:20
want to do it you know people's mind
00:12:22
don't change that face three months
00:12:30
after the attack
00:12:31
Jenny Pratt came out of her coma at
00:12:33
first she seemed incapable of thought or
00:12:35
action but after 12 weeks she started
00:12:39
physical therapy seven months later
00:12:44
Jenny began to speak a year later and
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she walked
00:12:54
although Jenny's progress has been
00:12:56
miraculous her brain damage is severe
00:12:59
and tragically it is probably
00:13:01
irreversible I don't think it's possible
00:13:06
that those events were stored in her
00:13:08
memory I don't there's any way they can
00:13:09
be recalled I think there's a strong
00:13:12
likelihood that she could be told things
00:13:14
that she would then repeat but to
00:13:16
remember those actual events is
00:13:17
virtually impossible then one new you
00:13:21
bad about why somebody was trying to
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kill me
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why was somebody mad at me what did I do
00:13:29
to them to hurt them
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[Music]
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we need somebody in the community would
00:13:37
have the courage of Jennifer Pratt
00:13:38
somebody who just knows the one missing
00:13:41
link the one thing that'll tie this
00:13:43
whole case together because I really
00:13:45
think that's all we're missing is a one
00:13:48
small link and someone out there has it
00:13:51
we've emphasized repeatedly over the
00:13:53
last year year and a half that we're
00:13:56
primarily interested in finding who
00:13:58
through the board that hit Jenny if
00:14:01
there's a group of other people in the
00:14:02
truck they can come forward with that
00:14:04
fear of prosecution I see a lot of hard
00:14:08
work Neela's worked ahead to be done
00:14:11
because some fool did this time a brain
00:14:16
injury you live with that for the rest
00:14:17
of your life and I sometimes wonder if
00:14:21
it is living really I'll always love
00:14:26
Jenny but I sure miss the old Jen
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anybody in the state could tell me who
00:14:37
hurting me I would appreciate that very
00:14:40
badly because you don't know how bad I
00:14:45
appreciate the feeling that some and he
00:14:49
does love me and somebody does really
00:14:53
care about me last October we examined
00:15:00
the case of Joe Shepard wanted by the
00:15:02
FBI and Tennessee police for the murders
00:15:04
of 14 year old Kathy cowers and 16 year
00:15:07
old Roxanne Woodson police alleged that
00:15:10
in both cases Shepard brutally murdered
00:15:12
his victims and then buried their bodies
00:15:15
and shallow graves
00:15:17
in 1978 Joe Shepard was officially
00:15:20
charged with the two murders
00:15:22
July 17th of that same year while
00:15:25
awaiting trial in the Bradley County
00:15:26
Jail
00:15:27
Joe Shepard and two other inmates
00:15:29
escaped although his two accomplices
00:15:31
were recaptured the following week Joe
00:15:34
Shepard was never found
00:15:39
update London Ontario Canada the ten
00:15:43
years search for Joe Shepard has ended
00:15:45
after the insult mr. Shawn October the
00:15:48
fifth we received a phone call from a
00:15:50
local resident saying that he believed
00:15:53
the guy called Sheppard was in fact
00:15:56
living in London under the name Joseph
00:15:58
trip we began an investigation and when
00:16:03
we had identified him to our
00:16:05
satisfaction as Sheppard he was arrested
00:16:09
at the time of his arrest Sheppard was
00:16:11
living in a government housing project
00:16:13
in London Ontario with his common-law
00:16:15
wife and their two children it seems
00:16:18
apparent that mr. Sheppard was an london
00:16:21
canada with just within a matter of days
00:16:24
after the scandal Tim Sheppard is
00:16:28
currently in custody in an immigration
00:16:29
Ward it is awaiting deportation back to
00:16:32
the United States however the
00:16:34
us-canadian extradition treaty
00:16:36
stipulates that he cannot be returned to
00:16:38
a state that plans to invoke the death
00:16:40
penalty I can tell you that it is my
00:16:44
intention to seek the death penalty on
00:16:47
mr. Sheppard unless it would prevent his
00:16:50
extradition to the state tensor Sheppard
00:16:54
also faces seven other charges including
00:16:56
rape aggravated assault against a police
00:16:59
officer that escaped from jail
00:17:01
[Music]
00:17:14
next the story of Jack Quinn trusted
00:17:17
vice-president of a security firm
00:17:19
he stole 1 million three hundred
00:17:20
thousand dollars an untraceable cash
00:17:24
[Music]
00:17:31
one Saturday morning Jack Quinn calmly
00:17:34
walked off the job with 1 million three
00:17:37
hundred and fifteen thousand dollars in
00:17:39
untraceable cash he still remains at
00:17:42
large
00:17:44
Jack Quinn was vice president general
00:17:47
manager of federal protection services a
00:17:49
company that provided security and armed
00:17:52
guards to banks and other financial
00:17:53
institutions every day this company
00:17:56
handled millions of dollars in cash and
00:17:59
Quinn oversaw the firm's security
00:18:02
operation at 8:00 a.m. on Saturday April
00:18:07
9th 1988 Jack Quinn arrived at his
00:18:10
office few people were Federal's office
00:18:17
that day though a supervisor Harry
00:18:20
Goldberg was working that morning
00:18:23
morning Harry
00:18:24
Morin Jack I'm gonna take care of the
00:18:26
morning run ok well Harry continued to
00:18:32
work at his desk Quinn was busy too but
00:18:34
he kept his business to himself
00:18:40
[Music]
00:18:46
from time to time Harry Goldberg would
00:18:49
see Quinn in the vault but he noticed
00:18:51
nothing unusual I've walked down the
00:18:54
hall several times they kept coffee or
00:18:57
whatever and every time I'd go past that
00:18:59
window I look in see him sitting at the
00:19:02
desk just as calm cool and collected as
00:19:05
you'd ever want to see him I never
00:19:08
suspected he would be doing something
00:19:09
like that I don't even know how he had
00:19:11
the time it would take him 20 minutes to
00:19:14
pack up the money loose money if it was
00:19:17
loose and some bags 45 minutes somehow
00:19:22
without being detected
00:19:23
Quinn spent much of the morning in the
00:19:25
vault transferring the money from bags
00:19:27
to boxes outside Quinn put the money
00:19:35
into the trunk of his company car
00:19:37
Quinn also put 107 thousand dollars into
00:19:41
the trunk of his personal car he then
00:19:44
asked Harry Goldberg to follow him home
00:19:46
when he arrived
00:19:47
Quinn dropped off his car and said
00:19:50
goodbye to his wife
00:19:59
[Music]
00:20:03
Harry Goldberg drove Quinn back to the
00:20:06
office Quinn got into the company car
00:20:10
that now held over a million dollars and
00:20:12
headed to the airport police speculate
00:20:15
that he had transferred the money into
00:20:16
suitcases when he arrived at the airport
00:20:19
he unloaded his car and vanished
00:20:24
the trail for Quinn stops at Palm Beach
00:20:26
International Airport the ticket in the
00:20:29
car indicates it was left there at 5:30
00:20:31
6:00 p.m. on the night of the ninth from
00:20:35
that point we have no idea where mr.
00:20:37
Quinn is going indications are he did
00:20:39
not take a plane he did not rent a car
00:20:41
and he did not take a cab
00:20:43
[Music]
00:20:48
Jack dropped the car keys off to me a
00:20:51
while ago and he said he'd be back in
00:20:52
half an hour and that was five hours ago
00:20:55
on her husband failed to come home
00:20:56
Quinn's wife called his office they had
00:20:59
no idea where he was what he had done
00:21:03
the next morning she found 107 thousand
00:21:07
dollars in the trunk of their car she
00:21:09
turned it in to the police
00:21:13
she also found a letter that read in
00:21:15
part may have done something very wrong
00:21:18
and I can't stay and face the
00:21:20
consequences the monies that Quinn left
00:21:25
federal protection service with that
00:21:27
Saturday night are untraceable there are
00:21:30
no pre-recorded serial numbers there are
00:21:32
no bait bills the monies are of a varied
00:21:36
denomination and basically could never
00:21:39
be traced to him since the investigation
00:21:44
began it appears that Quinn may have
00:21:46
been involved in several what we call
00:21:48
defalcation x' missing money mysterious
00:21:51
disappearances from the company prior to
00:21:53
this culminating incident there was an
00:21:57
incident approximately a month prior to
00:22:00
his leaving where his wife had found a
00:22:03
wad of money in the vehicle his personal
00:22:06
vehicle and it was unexplained whenever
00:22:09
the wife would find money he had in the
00:22:11
car in the house so forth Quinn would
00:22:14
explain it away as he had sold something
00:22:15
gun a car it sold property and that
00:22:18
would explain his acclimation of the
00:22:20
money Quinn was known to appreciate the
00:22:23
good life he rented a 10-acre horse
00:22:25
ranch
00:22:26
friends wondered how he could afford
00:22:28
this extravagant lifestyle on his
00:22:31
$35,000 a year income several weeks
00:22:34
prior to this thing that we learned that
00:22:36
the IRS was at the Jack Quinn to settle
00:22:39
a substantial amount of money Jack did
00:22:42
not have the money it was quite obvious
00:22:44
to me that the reason he polish job is
00:22:46
because he had no other way of
00:22:48
satisfying the IRS he was gonna lose
00:22:51
everything or possibly go to jail there
00:22:56
were reports that Quinn had been
00:22:58
conducting an ongoing affair
00:23:00
a month prior to the theft Quinn would
00:23:02
leave home at 5 a.m. yet not arrive at
00:23:05
work until 9:30 police speculate he used
00:23:08
the time to see his girlfriend
00:23:10
they also speculate that they may have
00:23:12
run away together whatever the reasons
00:23:15
for his disappearance today Jack Quinn
00:23:18
is a wanted man
00:23:19
he is 48 years of age he is stocky with
00:23:22
a tendency to put on weight he has
00:23:24
thinning brown hair brown eyes and is
00:23:27
fluent in Spanish next the story of two
00:23:37
fires in a tiny Indiana town called
00:23:39
Nashville they happen 10 years apart yet
00:23:43
the body of Clarence Robert seems to
00:23:45
have been found both times some people
00:23:48
in Nashville believe he is still alive
00:23:50
[Music]
00:23:59
Nashville Indiana population 700 located
00:24:05
in the American heartland Nashville is
00:24:07
like a Norman Rockwell painting brought
00:24:09
to life here everyone knows one another
00:24:11
so there are a few street addresses and
00:24:14
fewer secrets Nashville is a community
00:24:17
in the best sense of the word two of
00:24:20
Nashville's most illustrious citizens
00:24:22
were Clarence and Geneva Roberts but in
00:24:25
the fall of 1970 the couple became
00:24:28
embroiled in a firestorm of controversy
00:24:30
betrayal and murder
00:24:35
on the night of November 18th 1970 a
00:24:38
fire raged out of control behind the
00:24:40
Roberts fashionable home and when the
00:24:43
ashes had cooled a body was discovered
00:24:46
and identified as Clarence Roberts 10
00:24:52
years later another fire blazed two more
00:24:56
bodies were discovered one was Geneva
00:24:58
Roberts and the other was again
00:25:01
identified as Clarence Roberts but how
00:25:05
could a man die twice today the people
00:25:08
of Nashville still wonder what happened
00:25:11
to Clarence Roberts I talked to both
00:25:14
detectives that was on the second fire
00:25:16
and from what they told me I'd say it
00:25:18
was definitely Clarence
00:25:19
I still think Clarence died in the first
00:25:21
far I don't think Clarence Roberts died
00:25:23
in the second far I just don't believe
00:25:26
that
00:25:26
I think Clarence is still alive I sure
00:25:31
do the mystery of Clarence Robert's
00:25:35
death still haunts those who knew him in
00:25:37
the nineteen sixties he embodied the
00:25:39
American dream a former sheriff a board
00:25:42
member the Nashville's steep Bank he
00:25:44
seemed to have it all but something went
00:25:47
wrong for Clarence his dreams became
00:25:49
twisted into a nightmarish saga that has
00:25:52
gone on for 18 years and still continues
00:25:55
today in the 1960s
00:26:00
Clarence owned a prosperous hardware
00:26:02
store along with his brother Carson
00:26:04
Clarence was well respected everyone's
00:26:07
friend he and I worked together for
00:26:09
about 22 years first always seemed to be
00:26:12
pretty happy he enjoyed working Clarence
00:26:15
is outgoing he was friendly and always
00:26:18
made friends with people always got
00:26:20
along with people I use one of these for
00:26:23
the shelving and I've got some good
00:26:25
pensee in the back Eric's worked hard he
00:26:27
put a lot of hours in he was younger
00:26:30
parents you know he would help anyone he
00:26:34
would help you or anybody that if you
00:26:36
thought you was in need Clarence and
00:26:39
Geneva had been married since 1941
00:26:42
Geneva came from a poor family
00:26:45
but together she and Clarence Rose in
00:26:47
Nashville society with four sons and a
00:26:51
successful family business the Robert
00:26:53
seemed to be the perfect couple he soon
00:26:56
reached the 33rd degree of the Masons
00:26:58
the rank commemorated by this ring which
00:27:01
he wore proudly Clarence's appetite for
00:27:07
the good life began to consume him he
00:27:10
purchased three luxury cars an expensive
00:27:13
and fashionable home but behind this
00:27:16
facade of wealth were heavy debts Clara
00:27:20
changed a lot he really did I really
00:27:26
can't describe how different he would be
00:27:28
it's like turning a light on and turning
00:27:32
a light off that was Clarence turn to
00:27:36
light off to finance is extravagant
00:27:42
lifestyle
00:27:43
Clarence sold his hardware business and
00:27:45
gambled everything on to property
00:27:47
investments an apartment building and
00:27:50
several grain elevators these
00:27:53
investments failed and by the fall of
00:27:56
1970
00:27:57
Clarence Roberts knew he was in serious
00:27:59
trouble
00:28:00
for all the money that he was losing
00:28:03
everything going down the drain he was
00:28:06
going for a millionaire or broker and he
00:28:09
was ending up broke he was trying to
00:28:11
pull out of it yeah Warren I can see
00:28:15
that you come after the cars there goes
00:28:16
the guys getting ready to jump in and
00:28:18
drive them away in October 1970 one
00:28:21
month before the first fire Clarence and
00:28:23
Geneva stood by as sheriff Warren
00:28:25
Roberts Clarence's own brother
00:28:28
repossessed two of his vehicles
00:28:30
[Music]
00:28:35
Clarence and Geneva were left desolate
00:28:38
and desperate he wasn't the Clarence
00:28:43
that I had always been used to being
00:28:45
around he was down he was really
00:28:48
depressed and I feel that he was
00:28:50
suicidal at 6:20 p.m. on the night of
00:28:56
November 18th 1970 firemen arrived to
00:28:59
find the garage bar of the Roberts home
00:29:01
ablaze the heat was so intense that they
00:29:05
stood helplessly by as a structure
00:29:07
burned to the ground
00:29:16
when the fire had cooled they made a
00:29:19
grisly discovery a body burned beyond
00:29:26
recognition lay beneath the rubble a
00:29:28
half melted shotgun by his side burning
00:29:31
the body was so badly burned it was
00:29:33
difficult to identify it as humanely
00:29:36
jack by a counterclaim feared the class
00:29:40
roberts had finally paid his debts by
00:29:43
taking his own life when we found the
00:29:48
body wyatt
00:29:48
we thought it shot itself there wasn't
00:29:51
much doubt in our mind that he just got
00:29:54
too many worries so we started looking
00:30:03
for shots and we couldn't find any the
00:30:12
police wondered how Clarence's suicide
00:30:14
could have been accomplished without a
00:30:16
gunshot wound
00:30:18
detective Don coaster sifted through the
00:30:20
debris hidden in the ashes
00:30:23
he found Clarence's Masonic ring despite
00:30:26
the intense heat it was virtually
00:30:29
undamaged the ring when it was found was
00:30:33
in excellent shape the ring definitely
00:30:36
had no damage as far as milling or
00:30:38
anything there's no way that ring could
00:30:40
have listed the heat of that far like it
00:30:44
did and not even have a damage port on
00:30:47
it at all I definitely think the ring
00:30:49
was a plant just it had to be it had to
00:30:54
be
00:30:56
this was only the first of a series of
00:30:58
unusual discoveries investigators
00:31:01
learned that only months before the fire
00:31:03
Clarence had purchased several insurance
00:31:05
policies on his life totaling close to a
00:31:08
million dollars in addition a test
00:31:13
showed that the body found in the blaze
00:31:15
had type a B blood Clarence's blood type
00:31:19
was B if it wasn't the body of Clarence
00:31:23
Roberts then who died in the fire two
00:31:28
days before the blaze Clarence we spy on
00:31:31
the bar and the nearby community of
00:31:33
Morgantown befriending a vagrant he'd
00:31:37
been seen on the 17th of November 1970
00:31:40
and from the witness he was described
00:31:43
he's about five seven two five nine and
00:31:45
he was about the same age as parents and
00:31:48
parents was roughly but he didn't know
00:31:50
his name I got some grass needs cutting
00:31:52
a little brush needs trimming out the
00:31:54
house would you be interested as they
00:32:01
were leaving the man collapsed from some
00:32:04
unknown cause Clarence said he'd take
00:32:08
him to the hospital
00:32:09
and Clarence left with him and later on
00:32:13
I checked the hospitals within a
00:32:14
300-mile radius and this man was not
00:32:17
admitted to hospital
00:32:22
two theories divided Nashville one
00:32:25
declares had killed himself and second
00:32:28
that he murdered the vacant in order to
00:32:30
collect the insurance money it is even
00:32:34
claimed he watched from the woods that
00:32:36
the flames destroyed the evidence of his
00:32:39
crime
00:32:42
suicidal yes to commit murder no way I
00:32:46
can't believe he could have been any
00:32:48
part of that it would be hard beyond my
00:32:52
wildest imagination to think the
00:32:54
Clarence robbers could ever been
00:32:56
involved with anything like that
00:32:59
definitely definitely he was capable of
00:33:03
it Clarence was either dead or missing
00:33:10
and Geneva Roberts was left alone her
00:33:14
fortune changing dramatically from
00:33:16
riches back to rags she was forced to
00:33:19
move to the outskirts of town and her
00:33:22
claims to the insurance money were
00:33:24
repeatedly denied
00:33:29
Geneva was not alone and maintaining the
00:33:31
Clarence had died in the first fire John
00:33:34
ples
00:33:35
a prominent pathologist agreed with her
00:33:37
it wasn't until 1978 that the attorneys
00:33:42
came to me to review the reports of the
00:33:44
experts who examined the evidence and in
00:33:47
the process I was able to prove to
00:33:49
myself and to a lot of other people that
00:33:53
the body that was found in that garage
00:33:55
was Clarence and I testified at the time
00:33:59
of the civil trial against the insurance
00:34:01
companies that I felt it was highly
00:34:03
probable that it was Clarence Roberts
00:34:06
mrs. Roberts you have lost her case
00:34:08
against the insurance company had only
00:34:11
the recourse of an appeal despite dr.
00:34:14
pluses testimony Geneva lost all of her
00:34:17
Appeals the people that I was involved
00:34:20
with in that trial were decimated
00:34:23
emotionally by the judge's ruling
00:34:26
I couldn't realize why the judge had
00:34:30
made the ruling he had these denials
00:34:34
took their toll on Geneva withdrawing
00:34:37
from her friends and neighbors she
00:34:38
became the subject of local gossip in
00:34:42
order to make ends meet
00:34:43
Geneva had to take a job in the kitchen
00:34:45
of a local restaurant
00:34:47
then the rumors began local shopkeeper
00:34:51
said that they had sold her large
00:34:52
quantities of beer surprising
00:34:55
considering Geneva was a diabetic can
00:34:57
seldom drag beer
00:34:59
some said Geneva was not alone neighbors
00:35:02
began to report seeing someone on the
00:35:05
grounds of Geneva's home we had
00:35:07
developed information that a man had
00:35:10
been seen behind
00:35:12
Geneva's residence the man acted very
00:35:18
strangely he would never let anyone get
00:35:20
close to him and he always seemed to
00:35:22
duck away from them and head back toward
00:35:23
the house immediately myself and some
00:35:30
other officers set up a surveillance we
00:35:33
were down there for approximately three
00:35:34
days and three nights we were
00:35:37
photographing everyone coming and going
00:35:39
in and around the Geneva's house they
00:35:43
saw nothing but they knew who they were
00:35:45
looking for I'm sure that was probably
00:35:48
Clarence I think he had perhaps run out
00:35:52
of places to go you know and he had come
00:35:55
back to staying with Geneva he was the
00:35:58
mysterious man that was seen behind her
00:36:00
house a local reporter Helen Ayers had
00:36:05
grown friendly with Geneva she felt that
00:36:07
Geneva was hiding something or someone I
00:36:11
stopped at her house probably four or
00:36:13
five different times and she always met
00:36:15
me at the back porch and would never
00:36:17
invite me in and most people do I mean
00:36:20
around here it's just a matter of
00:36:22
courtesy to ask you to step inside but
00:36:25
she never did that and kind of made me
00:36:27
suspect there might be a man living in
00:36:29
there I interviewed Clarence his sister
00:36:35
who lived in the adjacent yard there and
00:36:37
she said that she could hear Geneva
00:36:40
talking to this man and she said it
00:36:43
definitely was not Clarence's voice
00:36:47
nobody knows for certain what Geneva
00:36:49
Roberts was trying to hide
00:36:52
a reclusive life went on uneventful
00:36:54
until the night of November 18th 1980
00:37:02
[Music]
00:37:12
from my office called and explained that
00:37:16
it was Geneva's house on fire and if
00:37:19
they thought Geneva was still inside my
00:37:21
house I went right to the fire scene and
00:37:25
the fire was still burning and very
00:37:28
intensely at that time after the fire
00:37:32
was extinguished why we just stayed
00:37:35
behind and I'm not even sure why I just
00:37:39
wanted to look further as did I'm sure
00:37:42
the the firemen sifting through the
00:37:48
ashes searchers found the body of Geneva
00:37:51
Roberts hours later they made another
00:37:54
shocking discovery Geneva's body had
00:37:57
been removed to the funeral home and the
00:38:02
fire had been extinguished the house was
00:38:03
totally demolished so we've gone through
00:38:06
the rubble and a fireman had located a
00:38:09
second body in another part of the house
00:38:12
and I was just so certain that it would
00:38:16
be that of Clarence I didn't even have
00:38:20
to have the comparison films I knew the
00:38:23
bony configuration of Clarence Roberts
00:38:25
so well that I recognized him
00:38:27
immediately by his chest x-ray now I
00:38:32
knew that I was going to have a
00:38:34
difficult time to tell all my friends
00:38:38
and neighbors in the world that Clarence
00:38:41
was dead for the second time it just
00:38:47
turned out to be clearance and I was
00:38:49
very pleased with that that this might
00:38:52
be coming to an end
00:38:54
little did I know that it was just
00:38:56
starting this was definitely a set fire
00:38:59
caused by an accelerant it looks like if
00:39:02
someone just came in the back door and
00:39:04
poured all the way around the walls the
00:39:07
second fire was a clear-cut case of
00:39:09
arson we could follow very clearly these
00:39:13
burn patterns from Geneva's bed into the
00:39:17
adjacent room where Clarence's body was
00:39:20
located and then down a hallway
00:39:24
and out the back door of that house so
00:39:27
we determined right there that at least
00:39:31
Geneva had been murdered we're sure that
00:39:36
turpentine was used to ignite this fire
00:39:41
we know that we simply don't know who
00:39:45
started it
00:39:46
whether it was clearance that started
00:39:49
the fire or that of a third party I
00:39:52
subscribed to the theory of a third
00:39:55
party investigators have no clue as to
00:40:00
who set this second fire but they
00:40:03
believe they have identified the victim
00:40:06
I'm absolutely convinced that the second
00:40:11
victim the victim in the second fire is
00:40:13
bad of clint roberts there's just no
00:40:15
doubt in my mind there's not a doubt in
00:40:17
my mind at all i still would like to
00:40:20
know who the second body was so that i
00:40:24
still can't believe it's parents
00:40:26
pathologist says it is but i still don't
00:40:30
me personally i don't believe that the
00:40:32
second fire was clearance i'm absolutely
00:40:35
convinced that Clarence Roberts died in
00:40:37
the second fire and that some person
00:40:40
possibly a derelict died in in the first
00:40:44
fire and when I say absolutely I mean
00:40:47
that this is not only a reasonable
00:40:51
medical certainty but would beyond a
00:40:54
shadow of a doubt
00:41:01
today in this small Cemetery the mystery
00:41:04
of Clarence Roberts lies buried still
00:41:06
defying explanation after almost 20
00:41:09
years who was a man in the first fire
00:41:12
who set the second fire and why who was
00:41:17
a mysterious figure seen at Geneva's
00:41:19
home and why did she hide his identity
00:41:22
and the key question where is Clarence
00:41:25
Roberts is he in this grave some family
00:41:30
members are doubtful they protested when
00:41:32
this headstone was put in place whoever
00:41:36
it is at rest beneath this Midwestern
00:41:38
earth will never tell his tale next a
00:41:44
florida bank robber who has successfully
00:41:46
robbed 30 banks the police Colin fumbles
00:41:50
you'll see why in a moment
00:41:56
[Music]
00:42:01
since July 12th 1984 a robber wearing
00:42:04
gloves and a baseball cap is held up
00:42:06
nearly 30 banks throughout Florida but
00:42:09
as we will see this felon has succeeded
00:42:11
almost in spite himself the authorities
00:42:13
know him as fumbles this robber hit
00:42:17
small suburban banks usually an outdoor
00:42:20
shopping malls
00:42:21
besides the cap and gloves he has
00:42:23
another distinctive trademark he was
00:42:29
given the nickname early on of fumbles
00:42:32
because in the first robbery when he
00:42:35
came in he got inside the bank drew the
00:42:38
weapon held it in his hand and proceeded
00:42:40
to trip the ball the gun went out of his
00:42:42
hand and he had to kind of Scrabble and
00:42:45
pick it back up which time he then
00:42:47
proceeded with the robbery in a
00:42:50
second-round fumbles even had trouble
00:42:52
keeping his mask in place approximately
00:42:56
a month later he dropped some of the
00:42:59
money on the way out of the bank had to
00:43:01
stop pick it up and then proceeded with
00:43:03
his getaway play this is a robbery
00:43:09
the police admit to a certain amount of
00:43:12
amusement their adversaries clumsiness
00:43:13
is 30 armed robberies are no laughing
00:43:16
matter
00:43:16
I think I was rather in shock I had
00:43:22
never been robbed before hurry up I did
00:43:25
think about my favorite
00:43:27
he's gonna raise my children cook them
00:43:29
very Joan talked about two nights later
00:43:33
in in bed in the middle of the night and
00:43:36
I was lying there alone and my two
00:43:38
children were one was in a crib and one
00:43:40
was in her bed I thought oh my god
00:43:47
we pulled a gun walked up to me put it
00:43:50
in my face and said don't do anything
00:43:52
stupid
00:43:53
don't do anything stupid you put a paper
00:43:59
sack
00:43:59
on the counter told me to put the money
00:44:02
in it I put all the money in it gave it
00:44:09
back to him he turned around walked out
00:44:11
the door I was mad and then I was scared
00:44:17
because I realized that he could have
00:44:19
hurt me update the fumbles robber has
00:44:23
been captured within minutes of our
00:44:25
broadcast the Clearwater Florida Police
00:44:27
Department received a call from one of
00:44:29
our viewers recognized fumbles as Ross
00:44:31
James Preston a 23 year old student
00:44:34
living in Clearwater on May 24th 1989
00:44:38
FBI agents clearwater police officers
00:44:41
and Pinellas County sheriff's deputies
00:44:43
arrested pressed somebody was test
00:44:44
driving a pickup truck
00:44:46
his search by warrant was made of the
00:44:49
vehicle mr. Preston was driving when he
00:44:52
was arrested inside the vehicle were
00:44:56
found the bald cap with the letters cap
00:44:59
on the cap also found for a pair of
00:45:02
gardening gloves and a pair of
00:45:06
sunglasses and a jacket
00:45:09
these were very similar to items which
00:45:12
were observed being worn by the bank
00:45:15
robber we called fumbles
00:45:18
on august 2nd ross james pressed
00:45:21
admitted to committing 33 armed bank
00:45:23
robberies as part of a plea bargain is
00:45:25
charged with only seven of the holdups
00:45:27
he has since been sentenced to 25 years
00:45:29
in prison
00:45:31
[Music]
00:45:45
for every mystery there is someone
00:45:47
somewhere who knows the truth perhaps
00:45:50
that someone is watching perhaps it's
00:45:52
you
00:45:54
[Music]
